Modern Japan

From the Meiji encounter with the West, through nihonga and Gutai, to Kusama's dots and Murakami's Superflat.

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 opened Japan to the West. Some artists studied oil painting in Paris, while others developed nihonga, a modern Japanese painting in traditional materials. At the same time, Japonisme flowed in the opposite direction.

After the Second World War the Gutai group in Osaka created performance and action painting ahead of many Western artists, and Yayoi Kusama became part of the New York avant-garde.

Potters such as Hamada Shōji and the mingei movement celebrated anonymous folk craft. Today Japanese art ranges from Murakami's Superflat, which unites ukiyo-e and manga, to world-class architecture and design.